Since his official debut in 2012, Cleveland rapper Machine Gun Kelly (aka Colson Baker) has ripped up the blueprint of normal and designed his own path for misfits to follow. He’s incorporated rock and punk into his rap career, made an entire aesthetic out of DIY clothing and when he gets a minute, he’ll casually star in a movie. In short, we just really want the guy to be our friend. So, we stalked his Insta to give you reasons why you should want him to be yours too.
His friendship with Pete Davidson is the best (and we’re kinda jealous)
Who can tell when the two first became friends but they gel so well together it feels as though they’ve just always been joined at the hip. From starring in movies together (Big Time Adolescence, The Dirt, The King of Staten Island) to Pete occasionally popping his head into MGK’s musical world (the music videos for ‘LOCO’ and ‘Candy’ and the hilarious 37-second-long bit ‘A Message From The Count’ on Hotel Diablo), we love seeing them work together. Imagine how fun those sets would be?!
His daughter Casie just might be the most adorable thing in the world
Often MGK will share special moments between him and his 11-year-old daughter Casie on his social media, and everyone (including us) will absolutely melt. Their relationship is heartwarming, with Casie joining her dad onstage sometimes and rapping along to all of his songs and ‘dabbing’ when a swear word is said. She’s 100% the coolest member of his crew and without a doubt our icon.
He hit a home run during a Celebrity All-Star softball game
Just when you thought he couldn’t do anything else, MGK showed his strength in sport during a 2019 Cleveland vs The World softball game that pitted celebrities with ties to Cleveland against other stars. He smashed it with a home run, giving him a nice career to fall back on if all else fails.
Boredom’s hitting him kind of hard during quarantine
Tapping into his comedic side (probably thanks to Pete), MGK showed what he’s been up to during lockdown via a hilarious video of him reciting classic movie lines while they’re playing out onscreen behind him. We knew he was good at his own roles, but we didn’t know he could excel at others too.
He’s a bit of a noisy neighbour …
In a completely unexpected beef, Bravo TV personality Jeff Lewis complained on Sirius XM’s radio show earlier this month about MGK’s ‘dirty thirty’ birthday party that got a little rowdy. Lewis went on to groan about the noise, the amount of people coming and going and parking “wherever the car lands.” MGK’s response? A bottle of champagne sent over on a skateboard with a note asking to “just be friends.”
Did we mention we’re obsessed with his style?
It’s only been in the last year or so that MGK’s really come into his own punk style, switching his snapbacks for bleached hair and high-tops for combat boots and Converse. But it’s the DIY stuff we can’t get enough of. Whether he’s drawing on his jeans, ripping up shirts and stitching them together or repping his own merch, MGK just always looks so damn cool. Tips, please?
Have you been living under a rock? He has a new single!
If, unlike us, you haven’t been thrashing ‘Bloody Valentine’ on repeat then we advise you to seriously get to it. The pop punk anthem is the perfect hit of nostalgia and gives a little teaser to the Travis Barker collaborated album Tickets to My Downfall that’s due pretty soon. BRB – we’re off to rock out in our bedroom and write about how our parents don’t understand us again.
